The Netherlands earned a profit of 1.3 billion euro on a bank lending scheme introduced at the height of the financial crisis to keep the economy moving. In October 2008 the Dutch government introduced a 200 billion euro guarantee scheme for banks to continue offering medium-term debt and make it safer to lend to each other.

The Netherlands will pay the European Commission's additional tax of 642.7 million euro by the end of this year. This is written in the Autumn Memorandum which Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem of Finance sent to the Chamber last week.

Jordan Belfort, who became internationally famous after Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed him in the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, feels that the Wall Street of the years preceding the 2008 financial crisis, is worse than the Wall Street of the eighties.

After negotiations at the Ministry of Finance with financial specialist from the ruling parties and friendly opposition parties, the Cabinet seems to be in agreement about the budget for next year. Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem says the consensus is a "careful budget", De Telegraaf reports.